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Fantastic Four World’s Greatest Heroes Review

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Looks like it’s time to review one of the Marvel cartoons that fell under the radar. The Fantastic Four have had several shows, but they’ve never had the same amount of success as the Avengers or the X Men. I’ve seen episodes from two of the other series, but this is the first one where I got to watch the whole series from start to finish. It’s a decent show, but it makes many mistakes, which keeps it from being known as one of the better cartoons. You can certainly see why it was cancelled, but it’s still a good title to check out.

There aren’t any large story arcs in the show. There are plots that continue like villains who go in and out of jail and Dr Doom’s never ending plans to destroy the Fantastic Four once and for all, but nothing to really talk about in the plot selection. A lot of episodes are stand alone fights with the various villains. We also have the Kree subplot as they start to get pretty fed up with the group of heroes. The Fantastic Four antagonize just about everyone that they meet so they have a lot of enemies. Naturally, Dr Doom is at the top of the list.

There are 26 episodes, which is a decent episode count for a series. It’s not a whole lot when you compare it to the other Fantastic Four shows, but cracking the 20 episode barrier is always something to be proud of. That being said, the show was just not as high quality as we have come to expect back in the time that it aired. One of the main problems is actually the animation.

It’s some of the worst animation that I have ever seen for a superhero cartoon. We can make the case that the CGI Spiderman series looked worse, but it was CGI so that’s to be expected. The character designs here are just pretty off putting and the colors can get very chaotic. The show loves to make everything look red or green or blue depending on how the animators are feeling that day. It’s not very pleasing to the eyes and they just seem to be having too much fun trying to make the show unique. Focusing on the fight scenes would have been a better way to have kept the series afloat. I could not get used to this animation no matter how many episodes I saw.

The soundtrack is certainly better, but it’s still not very good. There’s one classic theme that plays whenever they are about to fight and it’s a pretty decent theme for the Fantastic Four. The problem is that the soundtrack is very limited so you’ll be hearing the same theme in just about every episode and typically more than once. It’s a good theme, but (almost) any theme will get old after a number of times. We need variety!

Those two factors hurt the show, but what hurt it even more is the overall cast. The Fantastic Four are known to argue and fight a whole lot, but they take it to a whole new level here. They are constantly talking and there is never a quiet scene in the entire show. Human Torch is like a music box that you just can’t close and he’s always on screen. The others love to contribute as well and the villains play their part. It wouldn’t be a problem if the lines were good, but that’s rarely the case. I’d definitely compare it to Avengers Assemble since just about every line here is supposed to be witty and make you smile. The scary part is that Avengers Assemble actually does a better job with this, but it could just be that I like the characters a little more there. Let’s look at the characters in more detail.

Mr Fantastic is easily the best character in the show. It’s not even close and I also liked the voice that was chosen for him. He really sounds like he’s full of himself and that’s the Reed Richards that I know. He’s always got a plan at the ready and he doesn’t back down. I’ve never seen an incarnation of Mr Fantastic that I did not like and I’m glad to see that this hasn’t changed so far. His powers still aren’t great for combat, but he definitely has his moments.

The Invisible Woman is not bad, but she definitely gives Mr Fantastic a lot of grief during the series. She blames him for the Human Torch’s disappearance at one point, which was fairly unreasonable. One thing that helps to counter this is that she’s easily the strongest member of the team. When she uses her powers effectively, there are few fighters who can really stop her and almost none of those are main FF characters. She runs the business side of the Baxter Building so she tends to talk to the various inhabitants a little more than the others. This means that she has to keep up a pleasant facade from time to time, but the other members know that she is always ready to fight. Sue Storm is probably the only member who can talk back to one of their meaner neighbors.

I’m definitely not a huge Thing fan and he doesn’t do himself any favors here. He’s a pretty nice guy as he just wants to watch his ball games in peace. Unfortunately, the Human Torch will never let that happen so they get into constant arguments. His side plot with Alisha can also drag on a lot since it never goes anywhere. I think there’s no real excuse for the heroes not to cure her blindness and she should also move somewhere that’s a little safer from the Puppet Master. Alisha’s not a bad character, but she’s always been one of my least favorite heroines. She simply doesn’t have a whole lot of character and she naturally doesn’t get any fight scenes. The Thing is the power hitter of the Fantastic Four, but you’d be surprised at how often he still manages to lose fights. The Mole Men’s minions are able to take him down and that was during a rage moment. This certainly isn’t Ben Grimm’s best collection of moments, but the show did adapt his character pretty faithfully. I’ll give the writers some props there.

The Human Torch is unfortunately the most annoying character of the group. For every good line that he has, he’ll have 10 wince worthy ones. The reason for this is the fact that he never stops talking. He continue going on and on until he’s knocked out by a villain. It’s nice to see his confidence and he does pretty well during some of the events, but this version of Johnny Storm is just a little too exaggerated. Naturally, he is given a rather high pitched voice to make him look even worse when he is knocked out. His fire abilities are definitely useful and I would argue that he could defeat the Thing, but there are also a lot of ways around his fire that make him a risky ally to have. He’s typically fun to watch, but he goes overboard way too often to be a really likable character this time.

The Skrulls naturally get to appear and the writers must have really disliked them. They are shown to have little to no actual intelligence. They are very obvious in their attempts to gather intel on the Fantastic Four and they are brushed aside rather easily once the fighting begins. They have never been the toughest of enemies, but they are typically intelligence. They are masters of espionage after all so they wouldn’t make the rookie mistakes that they exhibit in their appearances. It was a pretty good episode though, but their portrayal should have been a little better.

Namor makes a quick appearance in the show and naturally he is rivals with Mr Fantastic. They are constantly getting into arguments and trying to one up the other. Namor is not as bad as you would expect since he is typically a very unlikable character for me. He still shows some of those traits, but the focus is more on him being a leader than on his other qualities. That helps him a lot and he makes for a good guest star. It’s unfortunate for him that he has to ask the surface dwellers for assistance, but the Fantastic Four are always happy to oblige. I was more than satisfied with his portrayal.
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Hulk looks pretty good here in his beast form and as Bruce Banner. It’s sad for Bruce since he’s always so close to getting a cure until things just don’t go his way. Considering how smart Reed is, you’d assume that he’d be able to cure him easily. The Hulk’s design isn’t very good, but he definitely looks tough. It’s safe to say that the Thing was completely outmatched in their skirmish and that’s how all of their fights should end up. Bruce Banner gets the short end of the stick as per usual, but his personality was pretty good and he was a likable guest star.

Ronan appears a few times and he has actually defected from the Kree this time. In the comics, that is pretty rare although I don’t necessarily mind the change. It means that he is now free to do as he pleases and he naturally challenges the Fantastic Four. His skill with his hammer is formidable and he has a nice fight against the Human Torch. I’ve never found him to be an incredibly powerful fighter, but against the Fantastic Four I would definitely give him some decent odds in a fight. He’s around the Thing’s level in strength here, if not a little weaker. He gave us one of the better episodes here in the form of a sort of Olympics competition against the Fantastic Four, which was pretty cool. He was definitely one of the better villains in the series.

The Mole Man is probably my least favorite villain in the series. He can’t fight and his design is pretty hard to look at. None of his plans should have any reasonable chance to succeed considering how weak his forces are. Unfortunately, he is one of the more popular Fantastic Four villains so he gets to appear several times. You end up feeling bad for his minions since they’ll never get to see the sun. He has to rely on his wit and cunning to win his fights since his staff can only get him so far. It’s always wince worthy to see him defeat the Fantastic Four.

The Impossible Man is one of those characters that I never like. His reality warping abilities are something that I never want to see in a show so a character whose whole gimmick is related to that is naturally not my kind of character. He mostly just comes to troll the heroes until they trick him into leaving. His episodes are typically more annoying than entertaining. Ant Man made a surprise guest star appearance in this show considering that he typically doesn’t get to be a guest star anywhere. His portrayal was pretty good and he definitely seems to know what he’s doing. There’s not all that much to say about him, but it would be nice to see him fight someday. Fighting minions doesn’t really count, he needs to take on a super villain!

Ironman gets to appear, which is pretty cool. Tony Stark’s portrayal is pretty great since he acts pretty fearless even as the Fantastic Four begin to threaten him. As Iron Man, he definitely proves to be an impressive fighter as you would expect. His armor does get hacked once again, but it is by Dr Doom so it’s pretty excusable. I liked the armor design here, which is a plus and he was definitely one of (if not) the best guest stars on the show. It’s too bad that he didn’t get to return since that would have been pretty cool.

The Super Skrull naturally gets to appear, which is good since he’s a very iconic Fantastic Four villain. I always liked the idea of a guy who had all of their individual abilities and he does not disappoint. He puts up a pretty decent fight and what he makes up for in personality, he makes up for in attitude. He’s never been a very deep character anyway so I hadn’t been expecting all that much. Still, he was a pretty cool villain thanks to his battles and appearance.
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The Puppet Master is similar to the Mole Man in that he can’t really fight. He actually has a very overpowered ability, which enables him to control anyone that he has made a statue out of. Techncially, nobody can really counter such a technique so he cannot lose. Plot hax ensues and they get out of his plot, but it’s one of those cases where the writers just made him a little too good. That happens sometimes I suppose, but it’s why you’ve always got to be careful. Even with that ability, he’s just not likable. He’s a really old guy who’s out for vengeance…not a very original story.

She Hulk gets a guest star role and she shows why she is about as strong as the Thing. She is mainly here to remind us why the Thing is so important to the team, but she’s still pretty likable. She was always a pretty good replacement member on the team and she doesn’t rub it in. She’s a team player, but she’s naturally here for the money. It would have been cool for her to have had a real fight with the Thing, but maybe next time. I was just glad to have another guest star.

Terminus is the final villain in the series and it was an interesting decision to end with him. He’s incredibly powerful, but also incredibly slow, which helps to even it out. The heroes quickly despair when they see him until they remember that Reed will think of a plan. So, all of the pressure rests on Reed and it’s thanks to his quick thinking that the heroes survive. Terminus is pretty gullible and I can’t say that I like him, but I do like the idea of a giant mech running around New York. He makes for a good villain.

The Frightful Four appear as a foil to the Fantastic Four. They pretend to be heroes for a while, but we naturally don’t buy that for long. It’s one of the better episodes as they try to humiliate the Fantastic Four on TV until they eventually begin to fight. Mr Fantastic really lets loose and he gets a pretty epic line to end the episode. The members of the Frightful Four are decent. The Wizard is pretty smart after all, but they are rather simple villains. They’re around, but they aren’t on screen long enough to become likable. They make for good villains and that’s about all that you can say for them.

Diablo is a one shot character, but it’s cool to see him try to convince everyone that magic is real. He’s a villain who is hard to take seriously since his powers don’t have many offensive capabilities, but he really tries and that’s the important thing. He definitely isn’t a very interesting villain, but he only appeared once so it wasn’t a real problem. Annihilius is more interesting and I’m not even a fan of the guy. Annihilius also gets to appear in one of the episodes and things aren’t going well for him when his weapon is stolen. Let’s just say that a team up may be in order unless he can snatch the scepter back on his own. He’s not mindless per say, but he’s not one of the Fantastic Four’s more intelligent villains either. He’s a monster who will defend his territory and I guess that will have to be good enough for us. On the bright side, his design is pretty good.

Ultimately, the show definitely had some fun guest stars. It also had some pretty fun episodes like the olympic games and the one with the Frightful Four. From the 26 episodes, I’m sure that at least half of them are pretty good. There were just other episodes that were not so good and ones that were only decent. The problem is that some episodes can toe the line where they almost feel a little boring. It’s partially thanks to the intros as a lot of the episodes begin rather similarly with the Human Torch and Thing fighting. It can just be hard to really get into the feel of the episode, which hurts its chances. The series definitely has no real replay value since you will never care to watch it again. Other big shows like Earth’s Mightiest Heroes and Justice League don’t have that problem since you really want to watch them again. That’s probably due to the fact that this show has no good fights. It’s just the way that it was made, but you never feel the blows here. The lack of a plot only serves to amplify this and your first time around will likely be your last.

As far as Marvel cartoons go, this one still does beat Hulk Agents of Smash though so that’s a consolation win. It’s still not a bad show either since I would have given it a quick 4 in that case. It has its pros and cons and they basically cancel out in the long run. Watching an episode shouldn’t be considered as 20 minutes wasted, but it won’t leave you as fulfilled as other shows. Compared to most western shows at the moment, this would probably seem like an all star in comparison. Compared to most Marvel tunes, then it definitely seems to be under average.

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Overall, The Fantastic Four were never the World’s Greatest Heroes so the title may have already started firing off some warning bells. The characters can be pretty annoying and it’s really hard to get invested into some of the episodes. They just aren’t very entertaining and the sub par animation does not help its case. That being said, we still do get a lot of fight scenes and we have a decent amount of guest stars. Some episodes are certainly better than others and at its best, the show can still be good. It’s just not very consistent and you are always playing with fire here. I recommend checking this show out if you’ve always wanted to see a new Fantastic Four cartoon, but otherwise I recommend watching the classic 90’s series instead. It’s a more accurate representation of the team and the comics that spawned them. On the bright side, you’ll get to see the Hulk duke it out with the Thing in this show!

Overall 5/10

The Amazing Spider Man The Movie Prelude Review

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The Amazing Spiderman films never really smashed Hollywood with positive reviews. While I thought that the second one was great, I can definitely see why people would not care for the first. (Peter’s portrayal….) Naturally, a comic in that continuity would definitely be intriguing to read. It’s decent, but the backup stories are what really keeps the collection alive and kicking.

The story takes place at sometime during the first film. I forgot exactly where it takes place since it’s been a while since I saw the film, but it ends with Spider Man about to team up with the police to stop a serious threat. Spider Man is basically just chilling out until he is attacked by a group of guys with masks. Can he defeat them? Meanwhile, Gwen is trying to make Flash Thompson a better person by tutoring him.

Well, it’s a decent story, but there is nothing that happens here. Seeing Spider Man take on random humans is not going to sell very well. The author tries to make it dramatic by having Spider Man be on the losing side of the fight, but it’s pretty hard to swallow. Can Spider Man really lose to random humans? Let’s not forget that he has his Spider Sense and he’s probably an A rank fighter with it. There’s just too much of a suspense for disbelief here and it doesn’t work.

The artwork is pretty good for the two issues though. It’s not great of course and Spider Man’s design could use a little work, but I would still give it a passing grade overall. It’s good enough to let you enjoy the story in peace..of only we had more of a story. The subplot involves the fact that Flash is bullying another kid and Peter Parker doesn’t want to get involved. So, he dumps the responsibility on Gwen who quickly cleans up his act by agreeing to tutor him. If she can’t help him pass the test, then nobody can! Hopefully Flash gets with the program and soon if he wants to learn everything in time.

So, it’s not a bad story, but it doesn’t have the firepower that you would expect from a Spider Man comic. The backup changes that as we get a 3-4 part story about the Lizard. He has transformed once again so Spider Man decides to stop him without hurting the poor villain. He takes this a little too literally though as he barely fights back. Luckily the Human Torch arrives to take the Lizard down, but now Spider Man has to stop him from seriously hurting the Lizard. This could get dangerous for both of them!

I definitely have to give the backup stories some props since they were great. This the Spider Man universe that I remember. Spider Man doesn’t actually look as good as usual since he doesn’t want to hurt the Lizard, but at least his power level is pretty solid. He can really take a hit and the Lizard just can’t take him down for the count. His Spider Sense actually worked back in these days so it’s good to see.

The Lizard looks decently good as well since he finally overpowered his human persona. He’s a good villain even if I think that he is no match for Spider Man. There’s just nothing to dislike about his portrayal here. Of course, the Human Torch is the guy who steals the spotlight here. He just looks great! You can tell that he is a true superhero right from his opening scene and his confidence never wavers. He knows that the Lizard is no match for him and he doesn’t hesitate to fight even when the villain is under water. He wasn’t afraid of the water back then! He knows that it’s his weakness, but he has ways to get around that. The comics don’t portray him to be as resourceful nowadays, which is just too bad.

The art is also great for these issues since I loved the retro style of this era. The characters are all pretty vibrant and colorful while the battles are still pretty intense. The writing is also good and Peter Parker is concerned about the right things like stopping the Lizard instead of just thinking about Gwen the whole time. There’s a time and a place for romance and it isn’t when you’re in the middle of a battle.

This collection is worth it even if it was only the back up issues. It would be a very quick read, but the comics are too good to pass up. As it stands, the movie issues aren’t bad either. The portrayals for the characters aren’t quite as good as in the comics, but they aren’t bad either. There is no real action to be found so it’s more of a thought provoking issue with a lot of plot. It’s filler, but it’s still pretty entertaining so you’ll be cruising through the issues before you know it. That is the hidden power of a good Spider Man comic.

Overall, This is a pretty fun collection. There isn’t a lot of action in the main story, but the backup makes up for this. The old stories are as great as you may remember from the old days. This is probably the Human Torch’s best portrayal that I have seen in a long time. It definitely isn’t the greatest Spider Man collection, but it will definitely beat the average comic that you see in the stands nowadays. It’s good for a quick read and I definitely recommend it to my fellow comic readers. Of course, if you want to read the ultimate Spider Man saga, just go to your library and check out the Cosmic Spider Man arc. That collection is officially my favorite as far as Spider Man is concerned and I don’t see anything being able to pass it…it was just about perfect. Maybe I’ll find a Spider Man tie in for the second film soon…

Overall 7/10

Marvel Epic Collection The Amazing Spider Man Cosmic Adventures Review

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The Amazing Spider Man is considered by many to be one of the greatest comic book series to ever hit the shelves. I have always thought that it was pretty good as well. The sheer size of the series as well as the large continuity contained within is one of the reasons why it was so great. This collection deals with some of the later issues and it’s still as good as you may have expected. I can safely say that this was the best comic collection that I have read in a while.

One of the reasons why it is so good is the plot. The whole Cosmic Spider Man arc is pretty great. I was on the edge of my seat for each issue which is why I read the whole saga in one shot as well as a few of the after comics. Each issue had a great cliffhanger and all of the subplots were interesting as well. The Acts of Vengeance is a pretty great supervillain group and it makes me wonder how they fared in the other comic books at the time. We’ve got an angered Black Cat out to wreck Spider Man’s life and an obsessed stalker who is messing with Mary Jane. These are two of the subplots that are in the collection and they have yet to be resolved. Another interesting plot is the one with Puma and Jameson. Puma took over the newspaper to help Spiderman’s reputation, but the hero doesn’t want that since it’s really affecting some of his friends. Meanwhile, Jameson is trying to start his own newspaper to defeat Puma!

The final part of the collection is definitely not as interesting since it’s from the spinoff series. We have an adventure with Ant Man and a few others about Spider Man while he’s still shrunk down to size. It definitely doesn’t grab your attention the same way that the others did. Why would I want to see a few comics where Spider Man has to deal with being small? I can’t even say that there is a lot of potential to be found there. Aside from those two big arcs, there are also a few stand alone adventures. Spiderman has a two part team up with the Punisher and he has a two issue battle against Venom as well. Let’s take a look at some of the characters involved in this collection.

Spiderman (Spelling his name like this is so much better) is the main lead of course and he looks pretty good. This isn’t the modern Spiderman that you see in the new comics. This is from his classic days where he was a tough fighter. He isn’t used for comic relief all of the time and Spiderman is actually taken seriously. As Peter Parker he can definitely be a little too interested in the romance segment though. At least he’s only interested in Mary Jane compared to how he goes after everyone in the newer comics.

The important thing to remember is that Spiderman’s a pretty top tier opponent here. His cosmic abilities allow him to punch guys like the Hulk into space. That’s some pretty serious power at his beck and call. It’s part of why I liked the saga. Spiderman usually has to rely on his spider sense and wits to win fights, but now he can just go for some good ole strength tactics. Watching Spiderman crush everyone in his path is a nice change of pace and he’s an endearing main character. He just tends to overthink everything.

Mary Jane has gotten used to the fact that Peter is not usually around because of his heroic duties. She does a good job of just going with the flow and her acting career is back on track. There is one comic where she’s very out of character. She’s a little too dramatic and panicky after Spiderman is shrunk. Surely that is not such a shock where she should be talking about heart attacks and such. Naturally, this was in the spinoff so it’s to be expected. Overall, Mary Jane is a pretty decent main heroine. It would be good if she could fight a little more though since several threats are targeted at her. Spiderman better stay close since everything seems to be heading towards a climax.

Venom’s role isn’t very large, but he gets his own two part story. He breaks out of jail rather easily and resumes his attack on Spiderman. Knowing Peter’s secret identity is definitely a big advantage for Venom. Luckily for Peter, Venom has a strict set of morals that he abides by. One of them is the fact that he refuses to harm any innocents. So, Mary Jane and Aunt May are safe from him. He really just wants to destroy Spiderman. His big battle gets interrupted unfortunately, but he easily crushed Spiderman in their first encounter. His return was brief, but it was good to see him return.

Dr Doom is actually one of the main villains of the Cosmic Spiderman arc. He’s the one who goads on a lot of the other villains and he makes a lot of preparations behind the scenes. He’s the only one of the big villains who has his own plans at the ready and he’s pretty rebellious. It’s one of the reasons why Dr Doom is one of the more intense villains. His plot likely resumes in the Fantastic Four series, but it was good to see him match wits with Spiderman.

Magneto’s battle against Spiderman is pretty fun. I definitely did not expect the Master of Magnetism to challenge Spiderman. Magneto is always confident and that’s one of the reasons why he is a good villain. He decides to just relax at the park until Spiderman appears. He’s also a more sympathetic villain than the others since he always wants to help the mutants. Recruiting Spiderman to the cause definitely would have tipped the scales a lot. He was a fun guest star to have.

Graviton gets a minor role in this collection, but it’s a pretty good one. He arrives just before the Cosmic Spiderman arc and he also gets to appear during it. He crushes Spiderman during their first battle, which is very accurate. He doesn’t do quite so well against Cosmic Spiderman, but who could really hope to stop such a powerful threat? It’s just impressive that he was able to go up against him at all. Graviton even admits that Spiderman’s power surpassed that of Galactus’ at that point. Graviton is definitely a cool villain and his design is pretty solid as well. It was good to see him make an appearance!

Paste Pot Pete is not a very notable villain, but he was the final guy to fight Spiderman before the hero’s big transformation. He humiliated him in front of a large crowd and even Spiderman was surprised at how easily he was taken out. This is Paste Pot Pete after all! It’s pretty inexcusable that Spiderman would lose to him at all. It never should have happened, but I guess even heroes have their off days. Spiderman got to return the favor after his big power up. Paste Pot Pete also overrates himself as he actually thought that he could defeat Sandman!

Flash Thompson’s character arc continues in this collection. He really wants to be a better person now and to use his strength for good. He has turned his attention to boxing and he seems to be decently good. It’s hard to tell whether he really is very good or if his friends are just trying to cheer him up. Unfortunately, he has fallen into the trap of romance and that is hurting his character. It’s definitely good that he’s not a bully anymore and Flash has definitely come a long way. His character development has survived to this day as he’s a full fledged hero in the modern comics. It’s good to see the beginning of his journey and hopefully he can realize that Black Cat is just using him.

Black Cat barely appears in this collection, but her plot is just getting started. Evidently, she wants revenge on Spider Man for some reason and she wants to get back at him by messing with Mary Jane and Flash Thompson. Unfortunately, it’s quite easy for her to do this thanks to her super strength and the fact that Flash is oblivious to her true identity. Naturally, I can’t say that I cared for her in this comic. I can’t really think of a time where I actually did like Black Cat anyway! She’s definitely not one of the better Spiderman villains/sometimes allies.

Aunt May is always around for support and that doesn’t change here. She looks after Nathan for most of the collection and she has to stay strong for Peter. She does get a bonus story where she helps the Punisher stop a bunch of terrorists. That was definitely impressive for her, but her narration could have been a little better. She’s still a good character though and Aunt May’s personality is pretty consistent through the years.

Antman only appears for a quick issue and it isn’t very flattering. Well, he appeared in a mini comic, but he looked even worse there. He ignored the call of the ants and he was forced into a battle with a pretty large creature. He’s basically beaten up and they bring him back to his bed. Antman actually figures that the whole thing was a dream until he notices the holes in his clothes. In the main story, he basically just deserts Spiderman when the hero shrinks down to size. You would hope that he would take a little responsibility for that mess. Antman still needs to work on his heroics!

Sandman gets his own mini comic where he is forced to choose between his ex friends and the law. He makes the right choice and it’s good to see how Sandman has turned over a new leaf. Hanging out with the Thing at the ballpark is probably a lot of fun and it’s one of the perks of being a hero. With his abilities, the Sandman can definitely be a powerful force for good. Unfortunately, it will likely take a while for the rest of the world to get on board and some new writers will likely turn him back into a villain soon. It’s the unfortunate, but inevitable fate for most big villains who turn good.

Jameson is pretty good as expected. It’s definitely been rough for him since his newspaper was forcibly taken. He’s handled it pretty well though and he hasn’t used any underhanded methods to try and regain control of it. Far from it! He’s just going to build another newspaper and he even welcomed Peter Parker into the crew. Jameson also invests in a good lawyer to help his friend out of a tough court case. It’ll still be tough, but Jameson’s done his part. He’s definitely one of the better Spiderman characters.

Styx and Stone team up to take on Spiderman in one adventure. Styx is definitely powerful since one touch can destroy the average opponent. Stone is less impressive since he’s basically your average joe. Together, they definitely represent a decent threat to the wallcrawler. I just can’t get over the fact that they’re really generic villains. At least Venom was in the issue so it was still good. It’s a little hard to buy just how well they did though. Venom is usually more careful than how he was portrayed in the issue.

The Punisher’s role is what you would expect from him. He takes out a few more drug dealers and Spiderman crosses paths with him for the biggest mission of them all. Finding out who is supplying all of the drugs was tricky, but now they have their source. At the very least, Punisher only turns his guns towards those who are evil. He does his best not to seriously injure any of the army guards or kids that he comes into contact with. You definitely can’t call him a hero as he strolls in and destroys everyone, but at least he has his morals. He’s always prepared as well and having a bullet proof vest is always a good thing.

This collection took place during the phase where the Hulk only came out at night and Bruce had control during the day. Bruce Banner looks really bad in this comic though since he has no clue on what is going on. The Hulk is only interested in money and he’s hired to take Spiderman down for the count. Little did he know that Spiderman was currently out of his league thanks to his cosmic abilities. I definitely didn’t like the Hulk in this appearance and he doesn’t strike me as the kind of guy who would be very interested in money anyway. I guess I overestimated him.

Aside from the main comics, we also got a few backup stories. The Sandman’s story was pretty good and I liked the Godzilla one, but the others were pretty lack luster. The one where a baby became Captain Universe was so interesting because of the Godzilla references. One of the characters mentions the infamous Godzilla meets The Brady Bunch TV special and the baby creates homages of King Kong and Godzilla to deal with the enemy monsters. It’s always good to see Godzilla get involved! The Sandman’s comic also had some decent action and it showed how much he has changed since the old days. He definitely made the right call. The other stories were pretty lackluster though. A superhero who rides a flying skateboard? I don’t think that this will hook the readers…

The art is pretty good as expected. There were a few issues from a spinoff series that didn’t look as good. Web of Spider Man I believe. The art really took a dip in those and everyone looked very out of proportion. The mini stories at the end of those also suffered from these issues, but they’re just mini stories. The main series continues to look pretty solid and that’s what counts.

As you can see, the collection had a bunch of major players involved. Who would have thought that guys like Magneto, Dr Doom, and the Red Skull would be in a Spiderman collection? It was definitely cool to see them test their might against Spiderman’s. (Although Magneto is the only one who directly confronted him) This Spiderman collection was very compelling and it really pushes all of the right buttons. I now have a greater understanding of why Spiderman became such a legend. His comics are a step ahead of most other solo series.

The one negative in this comic would probably be the romance. It has quite a lot of it between Peter Parker and Mary Jane. The rest of the characters are pretty safe, but those two get too many scenes together. It’s fine when they’re hosting party and hanging out with their friends, but we don’t really need the romance. In a Spiderman comic, you really just want to see the battles and all of the interesting storylines. Romance is unnecessary. I’m wondering if Mary Jane’s acting career is going to affect their relationship soon. This could get dicey and it’s not a plot point that I’d really be interested in reading.

Overall, This was a great comic collection! It was close to getting a 9 after the Cosmic saga, but it had to get bumped down a little from the Antman saga. It’s still a riveting read and I would recommend it to any comic book fan. You’re definitely missing out if you have not checked out this collection. This is the portrayal of Spiderman that you need to see to prove to yourself that he actually was a pretty great character. He’s also a lot more powerful than the new writers give him credit for. Either way, who can pass up on a collection where Magneto gets to fight Spiderman!? There’s also the fact that Venom makes his big return here. With over 500 pages of comics to read, you definitely get your money’s worth here. This collection is definitely full of victory!

Overall 8/10